Sixth Form Technical Media and Broadcast Route 📡

The new Technical Media and Broadcast Route at Global Academy Sixth form is designed to prepare students for a career as a technician in the broadcast technology sector of the media industry. The course includes an industry placement of at least 45 days, during which students will gain valuable experience and develop the skills needed to work in this field.

The course is taught both at the Academy, where students will learn the skills that employers need as well as in meaningful industry placements. Upon completion, students will receive a UAL Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production and Technology – which is equivalent to 3 A Levels and offers up to 168 UCAS Points. This qualification can lead to an apprenticeship, work in the media industry, or further study in a media-related field.

The Sixth Form Technical Media and Broadcast course is aimed at preparing students for a career as a technician in the broadcast technology sector of the media industry.

Global Academy will be working closely with the following employers as part of the sixth form course who will host a student placement across the two year course lasting a minimum of 45 days (9 weeks).

The type of projects which you’ll do during the course could include:

As well as studying for a much-coveted UAL Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production and Technology, during your two years at Global Academy – you could cover the following skills and knowledge:

Understand the fundamentals of live streaming, including its purpose, benefits, and various platforms. Learn about different types of live streaming setups and their applications.
Sound and Visual Production for Events
Gain hands-on experience with camera operation, including framing, focus, exposure, and composition. Learn various camera techniques to capture high-quality visuals for live streaming.
Explore the equipment commonly found in a live TV studio, such as switchers, mixers, monitors, and control panels. Understand the roles and functions of each piece of equipment in a studio setup.
Set up a live streaming environment, including cameras, microphones, lighting, and video switchers. Learn how to connect and configure the equipment for a seamless live stream.
Focus on audio equipment and techniques, including microphones, mixers, and sound processing and dive into visual elements such as camera settings, lighting design, and video switching.
Apply the knowledge gained in the course to complete practical projects. Work on live streaming setups, sound production, and visual production for various events, projects and recordings.
Collaborate with classmates to plan and execute a live project – including live streaming, sound production, and visual production. Present the final project, showcasing the skills acquired during the course.

What qualification will I get?

Upon completion of the course, you will receive a UAL Level 3 Diploma and Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production and Technology, which is equivalent to 3 A Levels and offers up to 168 UCAS Points. This qualification has been designed to provide you with the necessary industry-relevant skills, knowledge, and understanding to access entry-level roles, training programs, or apprenticeships in the media production sector or progress to related higher education courses.

Our partnership with the University of the Arts, London (UAL) and employer partners like Global– enables us to offer a rigorous and challenging curriculum that kick starts the career of young people whatever their background or experience.

What partners are involved in this course?

Across the course – you will be required to complete an industrial placement of at least 315 hours (approx 45 days). This will provide you with an invaluable insight into the demands of working within the creative media industries and will equip you with professional skills such as undertaking research, generating ideas, communicating ideas, developing ideas working collaboratively with others and developing your reflective practice.

Global Academy will be working closely with the following employers as part of the sixth form course who will host a student placement across the two year course:

We will also be working with Rise Up Academy to deliver this unique programme. The Rise Up Academy is an outreach programme delivering broadcast engineering and technical workshops to primary and secondary school children aged 9 through to 18 years old. It’s intention is to inspire, educate and inform children and young adults about the pathways and career opportunities available to them within the broadcast technology industry.

Where could this course take me?

The Media Technician pathway at Global Academy will allow you to develop skills with work experience during your course and will equip students to go on to gain an apprenticeship, work within the media or study media or a media-related course at a degree level at university.

Possible jobs could include:

Audio visual technician
Live sound engineer
TV or film sound technician
TV of film production assistant
TV or film producer
TV or film camera operator
Media researcher
Radio broadcast assistant
Video Editor
Broadcast engineer.

What are the entry requirements for this course?

To be considered for this course – you will need to achieve 5 GCSEs at 4 or above (including English and Maths) as well as demonstrate a passion, dedication, and interest in the technical side of media, broadcast and production.

100%

Positive destinations into industry, higher education or freelance

7

unique media qualifications available to kickstart your career

150+

media industry and career engagements per year

Life at Global Academy Sixth Form

🧰 Whatever route you take to begin with – you will be taught the basics of each pathway when you join our Sixth Form in September– we call this your ‘Media Toolbox’.

✨After this – it’s time to get practical and you’ll get real life experience to work on projects with an industry-focused. You’ll get the chance to go through the whole production experience (research, planning, pre-production, production and post-production). During the lessons – you’ll spend time with our experienced media staff who will guide you on how to use industry-standard equipment and software. We also work with real-life clients and industry partners – so you never know who will be seeing your work (and could possibly employ you in the future!).

👉 In your second year – you’ll get the chance to specialise your study to really hone your skills and craft as well as make sure you’re armed with all the knowledge needed to progress into the industry or further education when you leave. Finally, you’ll work on your Final Major Project. The Final Major Project is the culmination of your Global Academy training and showcases all the skills you have learned at Global.

☑️ Alongside studying your course – students will get the chance to take part in a wide variety of career and work experience opportunities with industry leading professionals and our own in house careers team. One minute you could be spending the day with the team at TikTok learning the craft behind creating digital content and the next you could be hearing from a producer from a BAFTA awarding film – we call it #OnlyAtGlobal.

📍 As well as that – there is a wide variety of in house clubs, classes and projects for Sixth Form students to be involved in such as Youths Choice, Film Club, Art Club and more.

What else happens in Global Academy Sixth Form? 🤷‍♀️

Guest Speakers and Workshops

Throughout your time at Sixth Form – you’ll get the chance to hear from and work with guest speakers or attend workshops and classroom drop ins led by someone in the industry – previous companies have included Canon, ITV, Sky, Grayson Perry, the Director of D&AD creative, BBC, Channel 4, Global and many more. You never know which guest will walk through the door each week!

As well as that, once a week, we’ll spend some time together to learn about issues that affect us as young citizens about to enter the world of work with our Global Cultural Learning Programme.

Social Media

Enhance your social media skills with our weekly masterclass. Each week, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about building and optimizing your online presence, analyzing your performance, and creating a content strategy. No matter which course you choose, you’ll spend one hour of your schedule each week learning the tools of the trade to help you excel on social media.

G:Prepare and Careers Guidance

Each week during Year 12, you’ll spend one hour of your timetable in a dedicated workshop to help develop your media, broadcast and production industry employability skills in a session delivered by the Global Academy team. This session will ensure you have all the skills, knowledge and behaviours to land your first job in the industry once you leave the Academy.

You’ll also get access to Unifrog software for FREE during your time here at Global Academy which offers a plethora of careers advice and guidance at the touch of the button, as well as access to an industry mentor from Global and other professionals from broadcast tech industry.

We also have our own dedicated Careers Advisor office who meets with students for one to one careers guidance support and a dedicated team working directly with industry to arrange work experience, insight days, employer visits and more!

Enrichment, Work Experience and Trips

All students will get access to work on real-life client projects, undergo work experience at some of the top media companies and get to meet industry leaders in workshops and insight days. There are also a wide range of trips and visits available during the sixth form to support your course and pathway routes – from visits to ad agencies, TV studios, radio companies and galleries!

To top that off, there are plenty of chances to develop your content and design skills by being involved in the Global Academy’s in house content production company – Youths Choice and produce creative work for the brand.

Finally, there’s a wide range of after school clubs and classes and enrichment opportunities including our annual trip to Hollywood in Year 13.

FREE Adobe Software

All students in Global Academy Sixth Form get access both on campus and home-use to the Adobe Creative Cloud software packages including Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Audition and Illustrator to ensure work completed can be to a high standard. The Academy will give you access to this software on your personal devices during your time in the Sixth Form (valued at £600 per year).

Where Are They Now?

Check out some of the Media Companies our graduates have gone on to work for!

Students have graduated from our course into top media employers including Global Radio, BBC, Facebook, TikTok, Google and more. Click here to find out more about Global Academy alumni.

Read our Alumni Stories

Getting Involved

Want to know what life is like for a Year 12 or 13 student at Global Academy? Here are some of our Sixth Form students talking about their time with us.

You In?

If you want to kickstart your career in the creative industry – then click the link below and apply now to join us in September.

Apply now